Butterflies part 34
by Kksaunt1
Summary: A wedding and a baby! Sounds like a good time


It was time for Faith and Levi's wedding. Jack had convinced Elizabeth to go with him even though she was very pregnant and very tired. Julie offered to watch Maddie so it was almost like one final date night for them before the baby came.

Jack was dressed and looking very handsome in his black suit. "Jack? Can you help me please?"

Elizabeth was getting dressed but she couldn't get the buttons on her back. Jack finished the buttons for her. "Ok, thank you. I'm ready. Let's go."

"Um, Honey?"

"What?"

"I think you forgot something."

"What did I forget?"

He pointed at her feet. "Shoes." He laughed. "I think your feet might have gotten cold, don't you?"

"How about you stop laughing at me, Sweetheart and help me put them on. On second thought, maybe I'll just stay home and make you go by yourself."

"No, no, I'm done laughing. Sorry." He was still smiling as he was helping her with her shoes. She snacked his arm and he snorted.

"All right. Let's go so we can get home."

He took her arm and helped her out the door, down the steps and into the wagon. When they got to the church, Jack found Elizabeth a seat with Abigail and went up front to calm Levi. "Levi? How are you doing?" He shook his hand.

"Good, Jack. A little nervous, but good."

"You may be nervous now, but the moment you see her walking down the aisle toward you, you'll be fine."

"I'm sure I will."

Half way through the ceremony, Elizabeth started feeling funny. She was starting to have sharp pains in her stomach. They weren't overly painful, yet. The baby was kicking her hard, right under her ribs. So she was hoping the baby was just getting situated and that it wasn't labor. As the ceremony continued, however, she was more convinced that it was. She was rubbing her tummy and Abigail noticed.

"Elizabeth? Are you ok?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I'm fine." She took a deep breath and kept rubbing her tummy. Abigail kept watching her.

After the ceremony Abigail pulled Elizabeth aside. "Elizabeth, you're in labor, aren't you?"

"Yes, I think so. Please don't tell Faith. Just get Jack for me." Abigail pulled Jack away from people to tell him.

"Jack, Elizabeth is in labor," she whispered.

"What?! Let me get Faith."

"No! Elizabeth said not to tell her. It's her wedding night. She's off duty. You and I can do this."

"I don't know. I…."

"Listen to me. I will do it, you just need to back me up if I need it." Jack nodded. He went to go tell his mom what was happening so she could watch Maddie and she said she would come right away.

They both walked Elizabeth to the wagon to travel home. Jack lifted her up into the seat and then helped Abigail into the back. Fifteen minutes and three contractions later, they reached home. As Jack was helping her down from the wagon, she felt a gush of water. "My water just broke."

"Yes, I see that." His shirt was all wet now in addition to her skirt and shoes. "Let's get you inside."

"Wait. Contraction." He put his arms around her as she used him to support her weight. She breathed through it, staying calm. A few moments later, they walked in the door to the house. Julie was reading by the fire. "You're home early."

"Elizabeth's in labor."

"What? Oh my."

"Julie, can you please help Abigail get Elizabeth more comfortable so I can take care of the horses?"

"Of course." She walked over and grabbed Elizabeth's arm and walked her to the bedroom. They got Elizabeth cleaned up and in a dry nightgown so she'd be more comfortable. Elizabeth sat on the edge of the bed to catch her breath. "Are you ok, sister?"

"Yes, I'm fine. This is nothing yet." Charlotte knocked and poked her head in.

"I won't stay. I just wanted you to know I'm here, and I'll take care of Maddie."

"Thank you." She stood up and hugged Charlotte. "I'm glad you're here."

"I wouldn't miss meeting a new grandbaby." Elizabeth started breathing hard. "Contraction?"

Elizabeth nodded. She held on to Charlotte this time. "Just breathe, honey." After a few moments she sat back down on the bed. "Where's Jack?" Elizabeth wondered.

"I'm here. Sorry, Honey. How are you?" Elizabeth nodded and reached for his hand. "I'm fine."

"I'm going to change my shirt. Be right back."

That night was remarkably similar to Maddie's birth except much faster. Three hours after her labor started, Elizabeth was ready to push. Jack sat behind her on the bed once more, giving her the support and strength she needed to push the baby out. After about an hour of pushing, Abigail could see the head. Then two more pushes and the new baby was born. Abigail cleaned the screaming baby and cut the cord and finally wrapped it in a blanket. Elizabeth and Jack held each other, crying with joy.

"Elizabeth, Jack. Meet your new daughter," Abigail said with tears streaming down her face. She had delivered her best friend's baby. This was almost as wonderful as if she had watched her own daughter give birth. She would never forget it.

"Another girl, Jack. She's beautiful." Jack couldn't speak. He just nodded and kissed Elizabeth and his new daughter. After a few minutes, Abigail left the room to give them some privacy.

Jack moved so he could sit next to Elizabeth and hold the baby. Elizabeth set her gently in Jack's arms. "Should we name her what we talked about? I really love that name, Jack."

"Yeah. I think it fits her. Emma Claire Thornton. Welcome to our family, baby girl. I'll be back. I'm going to get Mom and Julie." He handed her back to Elizabeth.

All three walked back in. "Mom, Julie, meet Emma Claire Thornton."

"Oh another girl, son? That's wonderful! Bill will be so excited when he gets here. Congratulations, both of you."

"Elizabeth, she's beautiful. She looks like Maddie and you."

"Thanks Julie. Do you want to hold her?"

"Yes, I do." For the next hour, everyone took a turn holding Emma and when she finally got back to Elizabeth, she was exhausted. "I need to get some sleep everyone." Jack scooted everyone out and grabbed the baby from Elizabeth so she could sleep. He leaned against the headboard with the baby propped up on his lap. "You sure are gorgeous, just like your big sister and your Mama," he whispered. She had the same round face and dark curly hair. "I can't wait for Maddie to meet you. You are going to be best friends." He picked her up and put her on his chest to sleep. He looked over at Elizabeth, sleeping soundly and felt so blessed to have all his girls safe and healthy.

Twenty minutes later, Emma woke up hungry. Elizabeth scooted slowly up on the bed so she was against the headboard and yawned. She unbuttoned her nightgown and fed Emma for the first time. Just like her sister, she knew just what to do. Elizabeth looked over and saw Jack laying there, watching her with a smile on his face. "Hey," he whispered.

"Hi, sweetie. She's amazing."

"You're amazing. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you for helping me again."

"There's nowhere else I would rather be."

They heard a quiet knock on the door and Charlotte peeked in. "Hi, Mom. Come in."

Charlotte had Maddie in her arms. "She kept asking for you both. So I eventually gave in."

Jack sat up and held his arms out. "I'll take her, Mom."

"Hi, Bug. Guess what? You have a little sister." Maddie laid her head on his shoulder, suddenly shy.

Charlotte turned to leave but Jack grabbed her hand. "Stay. You're part of this family."

She sat down on the edge of the bed. Jack leaned forward and hugged her. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, son. I love all four of you, so much."

"Mama?"

"Hi sweetie! Come see me." She reached out with her free hand. Maddie walked across the bed to Elizabeth and sat down. She seemed unsure of what was going on. "Mama? I eat?"

"Not right now. Emma is eating." She seemed to understand but then, "Mama? I eat?"

"In a while. Do you want to say hi to the baby?" She got up and walked back to Jack.

"I guess that's a no." Elizabeth chuckled. "She doesn't normally want to nurse right now. She's probably a little jealous."

"I know Jack was when Tom came along. He was older, but he got more clingy and wanted more attention. It might be difficult with Maddie because she might not be able to understand. Just make sure you pay extra attention to her when you get time."

The baby fell asleep so after Elizabeth burped her, she handed her off to Jack. "Mama?"

"Come here, Maddie." Maddie came over and snuggled with Elizabeth and fell asleep too.

Charlotte, Jack and Emma all left the room to let Maddie and Elizabeth sleep.

"I feel so lucky, Mom. Thank you for not letting me give up. I was so lost." He cuddled his new daughter under his chin, rubbing her back.

"There is no way I would have let you throw all of this away."

"I didn't know how to find my way back. I was so caught up in not feeling anything, I didn't notice anything going on around me or how Elizabeth might be feeling. I think I really messed up."

"The past doesn't matter. You have moved on and you and Elizabeth are back to where you were before, right?"

"Yes. I think we still have some things to go through, but we're good."

"Son, listen to me. If you ever feel this way again, rely on her, don't push her away. Your wedding vows said "For better or worse" right? No marriage or life is perfect. The "worse" part is bound to happen. What matters is that you remember to rely on each other, not yourselves."

Jack nodded. "I promise, I won't forget again." They heard a knock at the door and Bill walked in.

"Hi, dear," Charlotte said as she went to go hug him. "Meet your new granddaughter, Emma."

"Oh, Jack! Another girl. That's wonderful. Congratulations."

Jack walked over and shook his hand. "Thanks, Bill." Bill took the small bundle from Jack.

"She looks just like Maddie and Elizabeth."

"Yes, she does," Jack acknowledged.

Abigail walked out of the second spare room, hearing the voices. "Hello, everyone."

"Hi, Abigail," Jack said as he came over and hugged her. "Thank you for helping last night. I'm so glad you were here."

"My pleasure, Jack. I was so honored to deliver your little girl." She wiped a tear away. "I'm going to go. The café won't open itself. Is Elizabeth feeling ok?"

"Yes. She seems to be. She's sleeping now."

"I'm going to check on her before I go." She walked in to the bedroom. Elizabeth was sleeping with Maddie right next to her. "Elizabeth?"

"Abigail?"

"Can I check you before I go? I just want to make sure you aren't bleeding too much."

"Yes, ok."

After a few moments Abigail confirmed she seemed to be ok. "I think you look normal. However, I'm going to have Dr. Burns stop by later this morning when he gets to town, just to make certain."

"Ok. Abigail?"

"Yes, Elizabeth." She scooted to the side of the bed and stood up slowly and hugged Abigail.

"Thank you so much for sharing this with me." Abigail nodded and a tear escaped again.

"I'm glad I could too. I love you, Elizabeth and congratulations."

"I love you too."

Abigail was finally getting home after her long night and she heard someone calling her name. She turned and it was Frank.

"Good morning, " she said with a smile.

"What happened to you last night? I looked for you after the wedding, but you were gone."

"Can we talk while I get ready to open?" She opened the door and immediately put her apron on and lit the stove. "Ok, so I was sitting next to Elizabeth during the ceremony and realized she was having contractions. She was in labor."

"Oh!"

"Since Faith couldn't be there to help, I did."

"Is everyone ok?"

"Oh yes. The Thornton's have another daughter, Emma Claire."

"That's wonderful, Abigail. I'm glad you were there. I just wish you would have told me. I was worried about you." He walked over to her, putting his hand on her arm.

"You were?" She stopped and looked at him.

"Yes. I also was hoping we could have danced at the reception and maybe taken a walk after."

"That would have been nice," she said as she grabbed a bowl for her biscuit dough and started mixing.

"Maybe tonight we could take that walk? I want to talk to you about something."

"Ok. I'll be here." She was using a glass to cut out the biscuits and placing them on a pan. She went to slip past him to put them in the oven, but he grabbed her around the waist and kissed her, causing her to almost drop the pan. "Frank. I almost dropped these. Maybe warn me next time?"

"Warn you? Ok. Abigail, can you put the pan down so I can kiss you, please?"

"Gladly." She put the pan in the oven and stepped into his arms. "See, that wasn't so hard, and no biscuits were lost." He chuckled and kissed her again.

"Ok, I will see you tonight."

"Yes, you will. Now get out so I can finish my work," she said with a wink.

At the Thornton household, Charlotte and Bill decided to stay the day to help with Maddie and Julie went in to town to see Viola and Beth and to get some things at the mercantile. Elizabeth, Jack and Emma were all sleeping. Emma seemed to wake up every hour and she cried quite a bit, so any time they actually could close their eyes, they took advantage of it.

Dr. Burns had come to check on Elizabeth and Emma and pronounced them to be in good health which was a relief to everyone. He did say that the recovery might take longer because of how fast the labor and delivery was and she might be quite sore for awhile.

Elizabeth sat up in bed. She was unbelievably sore. She felt as if her entire body had been beaten up. The only thing that made it better was remembering she had another beautiful baby girl in her life.

"Honey? Are you alright?"

"I am so sore, Jack. I can't get comfortable. I really don't want to be in bed anymore, but I don't feel like getting up either."

"Here, turn to the side. I'll massage you." She slowly did as he asked. He moved up behind her, and gently rubbed her shoulders and neck. Then he moved down into her back. She felt like she had knots. He concentrated on each spot he found that felt tense, but made sure he wasn't hurting her worse. When he finished, he looked at her face and she was crying. "Elizabeth?"

"Thank you."

"Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry. I was trying not to.."

"No, Jack, it's ok. There was no way it wasn't going to hurt. It really did help."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, don't worry. I'll feel better in a few days." She kissed his cheek.

Emma started crying again. "I'll get her, maybe she just needs her diaper changed." Jack got up to check and she did but she didn't stop crying once she was dry. He walked around for a moment, gently bouncing but nothing stopped her. "I'll be back." He walked into Maddie's room and sat down in the rocking chair. He put Emma on his chest, close to his neck, just like Maddie always enjoyed, and started rocking. Before long, she quieted down and fell asleep again. He sighed. "I guess we need another one of these," he thought to himself. His mom peeked in the room. "Hi, Mom."

"Hi, son. How is everyone doing?"

"Elizabeth is miserable. I massaged her and made her cry. Emma apparently likes to be moving all the time to fall asleep and now I realized we need a second rocking chair. Other than that, perfect."

"Here, you look exhausted. Give her to me and you go be with Elizabeth. How long since she's eaten?"

"Emma or Elizabeth?"

"Both, I guess."

"Emma ate an hour ago. Elizabeth hasn't eaten since dinner last night."

"Emma should be good for awhile. You go make Elizabeth some food."

"Thanks, Ma."

He walked into the living room and smiled. Bill was laying on the couch with Maddie, both of them sleeping. "I love my family," he thought.

He heated up some soup for himself and Elizabeth and took it in to her. "Sweetheart? I have soup for you."

"Thank you, Jack," she mumbled as she woke up. He put the soup on the table next to her and helped her sit up. "Where is everyone?"

"Maddie and Bill are sleeping on the couch and Mom has Emma."

"How did you get her to stop crying?"

"I rocked her. She seems to like to keep moving."

"Hm. Too bad we don't have another rocking chair."

"That's what I was thinking. I guess I'll have to make another one."

"Jack."

"What?"

"I love you." She looked at him, tears making their descent down her cheeks. "Very much."

"I love you too, Honey. Why the tears?" He dried them with his fingertips.

"Lots of reasons. Mostly, I'm just happy." She put her hand on his cheek. "You make me so happy, Love."

Her stomach let out a rumble, making her laugh. "I guess it's good you brought me soup."

"Let's eat, then."

"Can you just hold me for a moment?" He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back, when they heard a knock on the door.

Charlotte walked in with a whimpering Emma. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I think she's hungry."

"Its fine, Mom. I'll feed her."

"Oh and Jack? Maddie is up and is asking for you."

"Ok, I'll come get her." He got up and kissed Elizabeth. "I'll be back." She nodded.

Maddie saw him walk into the room and ran over. "Dada!"

"Hi, Bug! How are you? Did you have a nice nap?" He picked her up and kissed her cheek.

"Papa?"

"Yes, with Papa."

"Dada, I eat?"

"Ok. Let's go find something to eat." He put her in her chair and cut up some fruit and gave her a few crackers. "Dada, Eat?" She reached over and gave him a piece of fruit.

"Thanks, Bug." She was having more fun feeding him, than eating it herself.

After they were done, he washed her sticky hands and picked her up. "Mama?" Maddie asked.

"Let's go see her. We have to be quiet, ok?" He put his finger up to her lip. "Shhh."

They walked in and Elizabeth was feeding Emma and talking to Charlotte.

"Mama?"

"Hi, Sweetie." Jack put her on the bed and sat down. "Come say hi to the baby." She walked over and sat on Elizabeth's legs. Watching. "Maddie, can you say baby?"

"No," Maddie answered and shook her head. Everyone chuckled. "I didn't know you knew that word, Bug." Jack turned so he was sitting against the headboard right next to Elizabeth and pulled Maddie on to his lap. "See the baby is eating. Just like you did. She's hungry." Maddie cuddled up to Jack, staring at the baby.

"I eat?" she pointed but kept her head on his chest.

"You just ate fruit and crackers remember?"

"No, I eat? Mama?" She started whimpering.

"She doesn't understand, Jack. I didn't nurse her last night. I can feed her too."

"You mean at the same time?"

"I don't see why not, I'll just need your help getting comfortable." It took some juggling, but eventually Emma and Maddie were nursing. "Its hard to believe Maddie used to be this little. She's getting so big." She kissed both girls heads as they ate. "You're still my baby, honey."

Abigail was getting everything cleaned up after closing. She was hurrying because Frank would be there any moment to pick her up and she needed to change and fix her disheveled hair. She heard a knock on the door. "He's early," she thought to herself. "Oh, well, I suppose I don't look too bad."

She opened the door and there stood Frank, with a flower in his hand, looking handsome, as usual.

"Abigail, you look beautiful," he said as he stepped in and gave her the flower and kissed her cheek.

"Aren't Pastors supposed to always tell the truth?"

"Yes, why?"

"Frank Hogan, I do not look beautiful. My clothes are covered in flour and my hair is a mess. You are early, so I can't even do anything about it."

"You look perfect to me, but if you want to go change, I can be patient."

She smiled and ran upstairs, thankful for the honest, kind hearted man waiting downstairs.

"I wonder what he wants to talk about?"


End file.
